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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (April 29, 2015)
INSIDE WEDNESDAY WWW.THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM G REEN F AIR P ROGRAM SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF FLORENCE • DUNES CITY • WESTLAKE • MAPLETON • SWISSHOME • DEADWOOD • YACHATS AND ALL POINTS BETWEEN 125 T H Y E A R • I S S U E N O . 34 APRIL 29 • 2015 $1.00 HONORING ONE OF THEIR OWN Florence Police participate in memorial for Coos County Deputy Gil Datan B Y C HANTELLE M EYER Datan, 43, was killed in the line of duty on April 20 in an ATV accident while This past Sunday, April patrolling timber lands near 24, members of the Florence Coos Bay. He had been a Police Department (FPD) member of the Confederated attended the Celebration of Tribal Police and worked Life for Deputy Gil Datan of side by side with members of the Coos County Sheriff’s the FPD during his time with Office. the tribes. Datan served Community members watch the with the Coos procession of police vehicles hon- County Sheriff’s oring Datan, who died last week Office for five while patrolling timber land. years and was in Siuslaw News Police Lt. John Pitcher. Several fire agencies also attended the service, includ- ing members of Siuslaw Valley Fire and Rescue. An impressive procession of hundreds of police and fire vehicles, mounted troopers and motorcycle officers led the way through Coos Bay and North Bend and ended at North Bend High School for the memorial. See POLICE 11A CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK PHOTOS COURTESY OF JOHN PITCHER law enforcement for 19 years. He had only held his post as a timber deputy for two months. Datan is survived by his girlfriend and his teenaged daughter. The Celebration of Life was attended by numerous police agencies across the state, with representatives from Washington and California present as well. “It was an honor for us to participate,” said Florence Ready to go ‘green’? Exhibits, youth activities and more Saturday during 6th annual Green Fair COURTESY PHOTO Dozens of fair exhibitors, including Laurel Bay Gardens, will offer advice on “living green.” Discover all things “green” at the sixth annual Florence Green Fair on Saturday, May 2, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Florence Events Center, 715 Quince St. Presented by Siuslaw News and KCST Radio, this year’s fair has part- nered with area educators and vendors for a day of fun for all ages, including visual displays, homegrown flavors, hands-on crafts for children and music featuring Marty Adams. Look inside today’s newspaper for a special program detailing Green Fair activities and exhibitor information. A new addition to the Green Fair is the Kid Zone, featuring interactive craft projects and a planting station. The first 100 youth to attend the fair will receive a super-recycler cape. Also on hand is the Repair 2 Reuse café, which will repair items for free, as well as the fair’s premier sponsor, Laurel Bay Gardens, offering organic gardening soils and products. Admission to the Florence Green Fair is $2 for adults and free for all children accompanied by an adult. However, anyone who brings a used plastic planter pot to be recycled will receive free admission. Police Scoreboard Sports Tides Weather Laurent Patureau and Florence Darceot, French citizens, stop in Florence after their Tahitian-bound catamaran was damaged offshore. IMPROMPTU VISIT After open-water accident, couple must navigate through sea of red tape B Y J ACK D AVIS Siuslaw News I magine a sailor’s dream. Under sail, coasting through crystalline blue waters 30 miles off shore on a 58-foot catamaran heading south from Vancouver, B.C., along the Oregon coast. Final destination: the French Polynesian island of Huahine. Next, imagine a sailor’s worst nightmare, ram- ming into an unseen underwater obstruction. The force of the impact toppled the boat’s 80- foot mast, taking the boom, mainsail and genoa over the catamaran’s starboard railing and into Your INSIDE W E D N E S D AY Ambulance A2 Classifieds B7 In Brief A5 Library Tidings A5 Opinion A4 PHOTO BY JACK DAVIS/SIUSLAW NEWS A2 B4 B B1 A2 the sea. The standing rigging was the only thing holding the tangled wreckage to the boat. The aluminum mast was broken in two places. Captain Laurent Patureau and his partner, Florence Darceot, French citizens who operate a charter boat company in Huahine, had just pur- chased the catamaran Twin Image from a New Zealander in Vancouver, B.C. “We signed the bill of sale on March 15 and left Vancouver March 16,” Patureau said. Five days later everything changed. “It was 7 a.m., small wind, small waves, every- thing was calm,” he continued. “What ever we hit was just under the surface. We had no chance.” Patureau believes it was either a submerged container lost overboard from a container ship, or possibly some debris from the 2011 Japanese tsunami. The 28-year-old catamaran’s hull and keel were solidly constructed of fiberglass reinforced Weather T ODAY T HURSDAY F RIDAY S ATURDAY Clouds & Sun 58 43 Sunny Partly Sunny 61 45 Sunny 60 45 61 45 Sports—B with carbon fiber and did not appear to have suf- fered any significant damage. The boat was not taking on water. But being dismasted, out of sight of land, can be unnerving. “I asked my crew to not launch a distress sig- nal, because we were not in a distress position,” Patureau said. “We just lost a mast. But one of the crew became panicked and sent the signal.” The boat was outside of Oregon’s three-mile territorial boundries, but well within the U.S. ter- ritorial limit of 200 miles and the jurisdiction of the U.S. Coast Guard. Minutes after the distress signal went out, a Coast Guard helicopter from Newport was hovering overhead. “We received the Mayday call at 8 a.m. and launched the Motor Lifeboat (MLB) right away,” said James Greenlief, Station Siuslaw River sen- ior chief boatswain’s mate and officer-in-charge. See BOAT 11A